Alternia City
by XterlaVonzed
Summary: The Leijon family moves into another city. What awaits them in this new town? Humanstuck. The kids are not in this fanfic, just the trolls as humans.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The Leijon family was busy unpacking boxes of their possessions.

They had recently moved away from an old, small town. They now lived in a big city.

Meulin, the older sister, was very sad since she had to leave all of her friends. She sighed as she took her stuffed neko plushie out of a box.

"Honey..." Ms. Leijon said to her depressed daughter. "It's gonna get better. Why don't you be optimistic, like your sister?" she asked, pointing to Nepeta, who was rolling on the floor with her crayons.

"I... dunno..." Meulin said, twirling her blond hair. "I guess... leaving all my friends is hard..."

"Your sister left all her friends just fine."

"Mom, she didn't have any friends."

"Well..." Elaine, the mother, said. "I... hmm..."

"Exactly."

Elaine sighed. "Well you can make new friends here."

"I don't want new friends."

"..." Ms. Leijon and Meulin continued to unpack without a word.

VvVvVvVvV

They had finally gotten everything straightened out. The rooms were complete, everything was unpacked. It only took two days.

Meulin plopped down on her bed. At least now she didn't have to share a room with Nepeta. She sighed. She had nothing to do.

_Maybe I can draw? _she thought.

She was an excellent artist, way better than Nepeta. She took out her sketchbook and pencils, and started to draw a picture of herself.

As soon as it was done, she tacked it onto her wall, where all her other pictures were tacked. Soon, the whole left wall of her romm was covered in doodles and pictures.

"Somethings... Missing..." she mumbled aloud. She realized she had no drawings of her family and began sketching again.

VvVvVvVvV

Nepeta ripped up a lot of old drawings. "Can't ship these anymore!" she said happily, tearing into another page.

Her floor was covered in scraps of paper now. "Oh no, Mom's gonna be so mad..." she said, looking at the mess she had made. She decided to shove it all under her bed. "There we go!" she said, skipping out of her room.

Nepeta saw her mom in the kitchen, putting on her shoes, ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Nepeta asked.

"I'm going to apply for a job at the church," Ms. Leijon said. "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Meulin!?" Elaine called for her daughter.

"What?" Meulin asked from the other room

"You're in charge until I get back!"

"Okay!"

Elaine turned back to Nepeta. "I'll be back soon," she assured, kissing Nepeta on the forehead. She opened the door and left.

Nepeta crawled into Meulin's room.

"What?" Meulin asked, looking up from her drawing.

"Nothing," Nepeta said, sitting on the bed, next to her sister. She looked over the older Leijon's shoulder, and stared at the drawing.

"Is that us?" she asked, looking at the colorful family portrait.

"Ya."

"It's pretty," Nepeta said.

"Thanks," Meulin smiled, petting Nepeta's silky golden hair. She resumed to draw.

"Meulin?" Nepeta asked.

"Yes?"

"I think we're gonna have a better life here."

"Me too."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Elaine drove over to the church. She went inside.

It was a fairly large church, much bigger than a house.

She walked down the hall, and down to where only the staff members went.

She knocked on the priest's office door.

A man about a foot taller then Elaine opened the door. He had reddish-orange hair that was parted to the far left. His eyes were light brown with a slight tint of red. He wore green priest robes, the color symbolizing that there were no special events or festivals. His skin was slightly tanned.

"Oh h-hello..." he said, staring at the woman.

She had long, silky golden hair. Her eyes were big and green. She had on an olive long-sleeved button up shirt, black pants, and black boots.

"Uh... hello?" she said, waving a hand in his face. "Earth to priest?"

"P-please, call me Simon," he said, holding his hand out.

She grabbed his hand and shook it lightly. "Uh, I'm here for the job," Elaine said. "I called earlier."

"Oh, yes!" Simon said. "You must be Elaine! So nice to meet you!"

She smiled. "Do I have the job? As the interpreter for the deaf people?"

"Oh, of course!" he said, happily. "We've been looking for someone who knows sign language. It seems as though no one here knows how..."

"Well, I can start as soon as possible."

"Next Sunday?"

"Yes, of course," she said, walking out the door. "I must get back home now. My girls are probably waiting for me," Elaine said, closing the door behind herself.

"Girls? Then she must be married..." Simon mumbled, disappointed.

VvVvVvVvV

Elaine got home very quickly. She walked in the door to see Meulin and Nepeta coloring together.

"I'm hooooome," Elaine said in a sing-song voice.

The sisters looked up. "Hi, mom!"

"Look at this!" Nepeta said excitedly, holding up a picture. It wasn't... the best art ever... or the most average... but Nepeta showed it off with pride. "I drew..." she paused for dramatic effect. "... A kitty!"

"That's nice, dear," her mother smiled.

Nepeta skipped to the kitchen so she could put the picture on a fridge.

"So mom," Meulin said, looking up from her masterpiece, "Me and Nepeta will be starting school tomorrow... right?"

"Yes, Meulin," Elaine said. "You'll be starting highschool, isn't that exciting?!"

Meulin shivered. "I hear high school is scary..."

"Nonsense!" Elaine said. "You'll do fine!"

"But... it's a new city... New school... New people..."

"Oh!" Ms. Leijon remembered. "I almost forgot! I asked the principle, and she got the Student Body President to show you around. So wake up early, you'll have to go to school half an hour early!"

"Early?!" Meulin whined. "Can't I start school next year? I already missed a whole semister, and I hear the others are rude to new kids. Maybe if I started next year, people wouldn't know I was new here..."

"Nope, not happening, sweetheart!" Her mother smiled again. "If Nepeta's gonna start school late, so will you."

Meulin banged her head on the table as Nepeta dashed around energetically.

"I'm gonna start middle school!" she cheered, tossing her crayons in the air.

"It's not as great as you'd think..." Meulin muttered.

The littlest Leijon stopped in her tracks. "It isn't?" she said, disappointed.

"Meulin," Elaine said, shaking her head. "Don't put negative thoughts in your sister's head..."

"Well, it's true."

"Middle school could be different for her, now shoosh!" She turned to her youngest daughter. "Don't listen to your sister, sweetheart, she's just being a sour puss."

"Am not."

"Are too." Elaine turned back to Nepeta, and whispered slyly, while pointing at Meulin, "Sour puuuuuuuuuuuuuss..."

Nepeta couldn't help but giggle.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Elaine drove Meulin and Nepeta to school.

The middle and high school were only one block away from eachother. The only thing that seperated them was a field, where the kids and teens both enjoyed playing games such as football or soccer, and a wire fence.

Meulin walked to the principle's office. She had to meet with the student body president for a tour.

Inside the office, a boy sat on a chair beside the principle.

He had orange-red hair and light brown eyes. The boy wore dark grey jeans, and a red sweater.

"Hello," he said, standing up. "My name is Kankri Vantas, and I will be your tour guide."

"Okay..." Meulin said, following him out the door.

"First is your schedule," Kankri said. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it, revealing that it was two seperate papers. "Here you go," he said, handing one to her. He kept the other one.

"You're keeping a copy of my schedule?!" Meulin asked, a little alarmed. She didn't need a stalker or anything.

"Of course," he said, as if there was nothing wrong with it. "There is a copy of everyone's schedule in the office."

"..."

He didn't take her silence as any hints that was creepy. He continued. "You have History first..." he mumbled. "It's over here."

Kankri led her over to the History room. It was on the second floor, and on the right side of the 9th grade hall. All Meulin's classes were either on the upstairs 9th grade hall, or the downstairs 9th grade hall.

The older Vantas showed her to all her other classes. First was History, Language, Math, Choir (an elective), Science, and then Reading. Science was the only class downstairs. Choir was on the other side of the school, along with P.E., Technology, and Art.

"You better head off to History now," Kankri told her. He tapped his watch. "Class starts in five minutes."

"Oh!" she yelled. She didn't think 5 minutes was enough time to get to each class.

"You better get used to it," Kankri smiled. "After each bell rings, you only get FOUR minutes to get to the next class."

Meulin said thank-you, and dashed down the hall to her first class.

VvVvVvVvV

Nepeta went to her first class of the day. History.

She got there a little early, so she just read her book.

When the bell rang, the little Leijon took a look around. She made notes on all of the students in class.

One girl sat in the corner, alone. She had long black hair, that was slightly wavy. She had almond-shaped brown eyes. She wore a long grey skirt, and burgundy t-shirt. Her notebook had a cute little anime ram on it.

The girl looked up, and saw Nepeta staring at her. "Huh?"

Nepeta quickly turned around. How embarrassing it was to be caught staring at someone!

But... why was she in the corner alone? Maybe she didn't have friends? Maybe she was new too?

Nepeta pondered at these questions.

VvVvVvVvV

Meulin studied her new classmates.

There was one girl who looked very different than the rest.

She had black hair up in a bun. Two chopsticks were stabbed into the bun. She had on a short burgundy skirt, and a shirt that looked a bit like a cut in half kimono.

"Hello," Meulin said.

The girl looked at her. "Soko ni kon'nichiwa, anata wa atarashī koko ni iru?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Watashi wa Damara," she greeted. "Watashi wa mae ni koko de anata o mita koto ga nainode, watashi wa anata no namae o manabu koto ga arimasu?"

"Ummmm..."

The girl smirked, almost evilly. "Anata o okonau, watashi no kotoba o shiranai? Watashi wa anata ga konran shite iru toki, soreha kyūtoda to omou!"

Meulin decided to turn around, and ignore her.

She just paid attention to the teacher instead.

**A/N**  
**Go look up what Damara said in google translate. It helps alot.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Meulin's next class was Language. She took a seat next to a boy.

He had platnium blond hair, that covered his eyes. He had a yellow shirt on, and a black jacket. His pants were black, and his boots yellow. He had black fingerless gloves on. A few silver earrings were pierced into his upper ear.

"Hey," he said, a little slurred.

"Hello," Meulin said, opening her notebook to take notes.

"I thee you're new here," he said, a lisp coating the s. "Mutht be hard, tharting on the thecond themethter."

Meulin giggled a little. "Your lisp. It's funny when you talk like that."

"I can't control it," he said, with a bit of difficulty. "But if you're implying I'm a cutie... Thorry, I'm taken."

"What? That's not what I meant!"

He laughed a little. "I'm jutht kidding. But I DO have a girlfriend."

"Must be one lucky lady," Meulin smiled.

"Yep," he said, smirking. "Luckietht lady on the whole planet."

"So what's your name?" Meulin asked.

"Mituna. Mituna Captor," he said with his slur. "What'th yourth?"

"Meulin," the Leijon replied.

The bell rang, and Meulin immediately stopped talking to Mituna.

VvVvVvVvV

Nepeta was almost late for Language.

She got there just as the bell had rang, quickly taking a seat behind a boy who was playing on his phone.

He put his phone away as the teacher walked in.

The teacher was so busy teaching the class, she didn't notice him lean back and talk to Nepeta.

"New girl, huh?"

"Ya..."

"Name'th Tholluth," he said with a lisp.

"S-Sollux?" she asked, not sure if she heard him right, due to his accent.

"Yep."

"I'm Nepeta," she said. She studied his appearance.

His light blond hair was parted in the middle. his side bangs were a little longer than the front bangs. He wore a black shirt with a yellow collar. His shoes were mismatched, one white and one black. His sunglasses had one blue lens and one red lens. His eyes were mismatched as well. One was blue, the other was green.

"Shouldn't we be paying attention to the teacher?" Nepeta asked.

"No," he said. "The teacher jutht talkth and talkth. Thhe never getth to the important part. Thhe alwayth flauntth around her French language too. Which ith totally off topic for an Englithh room."

Nepeta giggled a little. "That lisp."

"Oh, thhut up. That'th all I hear all day long. 'The lithp, the lithp, blah blah blah!' I mean, what idiot even put that _certain_ letter in the word lithp?"

"You mean the 's'?" Nepeta asked.

"Yeth!" he whispered, so the teacher wouldn't hear. "Why put an th in a word that meanth you can't pronounce the th?"

Nepeta giggled a little. "Sorry," she said, seeing he was getting a little ticked.

He just rolled his eyes and turned around, his back facing her.

Nepeta felt a little sad, making him upset like that.

**A/N**  
**I am so sorry if you had a hard time reading Mituna's and Sollux's dialouge! So many 'th's...**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Meulin rushed to math.

"Hello!" A friendly voice greeted.

Meulin whirled around to come face-to-face with a smiling girl.

This girl was about the same height as Meulin herself. She had a cerulean dress on. The sleeves were long, and the skirt of it was short. She had snow white knee-socks, and red slip-on shoes. Her white glasses were slightly pointy at the tips. Her eyes were just as blue as her dress, but also bright. Her black hair was cut short, and the bangs flowed to the right of her forehead. A silver chain necklace hung loosly around her neck.

"Oh hi," Meulin said. "I'm Meulin."

"Aranea," the girl said, curtsying. "May I help you get caught up in math?"

"Oh, thank you!" Meulin beamed.

The two sat down and got started at work.

"Do you think you could tell me who the other are in class?" Meulin asked.

"Well..." Aranea said, unsure. "I am not very close to the others in this class at all. All of my friends are in different classes right now."

Aranea looked like she wanted to tell Meulin something. She shuffled in her seat.

"What?" The Leijon asked.

Aranea looked behind her, then back at Meulin. "Stay away from Kurloz," she said. She tilted her head towards a guy who sat in the back of the class, alone.

Kurloz had black hair just like Aranea. His hair was layered though, and a bit silky with some curl and wave to it. He wore a black hoodie with a skeleton on the front of it. His jeans were black, and his shoes were dark purple. His skin was deathly pale, and three black rings were pierced into his lower lip.

Meulin couldn't see his eye color though. He was doing his homework, looking down at the desk. His hoodie was pulled over his head, casting a shadow over his face.

He did look a little creepy.

"Who is he..?" Meulin asked. "Y'know, besides his name..."

"He's pretty dark and stuff," Aranea said. "He usually just minds his own business, sitting in the corner. His father is a judge down at the court though. It's hard to believe, but Kurloz lives in a pretty wealthy family."

"Hmm..." Meulin mumbled, almost silently.

VvVvVvVvV

Nepeta was in the worst class of all. Math. She felt as though she wouldn't survive.

She looked through her entire binder, but she couldn't find a pencil. _I probably lost it in the hallway... _she thought, freaking out.

"Can I borrow a pencil?" She asked the girl seated in front of her.

The girl had long locks of black hair. She had a black t-shirt on and a dark grey leather jacket. Her jeans were dark blue, like her eyes. Her glasses were also black. Her nails were painted a glossy blue color. Her feet were rested on her desk. Her boots were shiny and red.

"What do I look like to you, a pencil give away charity?" she asked in a snarky tone.

"I was just asking," Nepeta said, pouting.

"Well go ask someone else," the girl said, shooing away Nepeta.

Nepeta pouted once more, and checked the floor for any pencils.

"Hey, sis, need a pencil?" someone asked, holding out a purple pencil to her.

"Oh thanks!" Nepeta said, taking the pencil with a smile.

The boy smiled back. "And don't worry," he said. "Miss-sassy-Vriska over there isn't so bad when you get to know her."

"I hope so."

"And I'm Gamzee."

Gamzee smiled. His hair was black and slightly curly. He wore a black shirt. His skin was very pale, like a ghost almost. His black jeans had a dark purple tint to them, along with his shoes. His eyes were a very, very odd color.

"Are you wearing colored-contacts?" Nepeta asked, looking at his eyes.

"Nope," he answered. "That is my natural eye color."

"Whoa, really?"

"Ya. My eye color is due to a gene mutation."

Nepeta was speechless and breath-taken.

"C'mon," Vriska called from her seat, over-hearing their conversation. "My deep blue eyes are MUCH cooler than Gamzee's purple eyes."

"You just want attention," Gamzee said, smirking.

"P-Please!" Vriska said, nervously(yet trying to be really cool), she tossing her hair. "Why would I want attention from a new kid? Just the THOUGHT sickens me!"

The two had such a long arguement, that the thought of how long it was sickens me. It went a little something like this; Gamzee kept on telling Vriska that she just wanted to have attention and to be cared for. Then Vriska kept on denying it, and throwing petty insults at him, which didn't effect him at all. Then Gamzee called her secretly insecure, and Vriska said "Am not," and then he said "Are too," and then she said "Am not," and then he repeated what he said before, and the majority of the arguement went on like that, those two words being repeated back and forth. Then it ended when Vriska scoffed and flipped her hair as she turned around, with her back facing Gamzee. And poor little Nepeta was just staring at the two the whole time, speechless.

Nepeta quietly sat back down. She had just watched an arguement for about fifteen minutes, and boy, did she feel awkward. Gamzee was sitting behind her, and Vriska in front of her. There was a lot of tension and frustration in the air, mostly coming from Vriska.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

As soon as math class was done, Meulin got up and was ready to go to her next class.

"Where are you going, silly?" Aranea asked. "It's lunch time!"

"Oh, I forgot!" Meulin said. It was a big school though, and she had no clue where the lunch room WAS.

"Confused~?" Aranea chimed.

"A little... How did you know?"

"I'm really good at telling people's emotions," Aranea said. "It's written all over your face!" She slipped her arm around Meulin's. "Now time to go to lunch," she said, leading Meulin to the cafeteria.

Once in the cafeteria, Meulin was completely confused. She didn't know who she was going to sit with...

"This way," Aranea sat, taking Meulin with her. "You can sit with me today!"

The two girls sat down together. Aranea got out her own lunch that she had packed. "Why don't you get in the lunch line?" Aranea asked. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Oh, ya," Meulin said. She didn't really know alot about the school, and by now, she was starting to space out a bit.

She got a tray from the tray rack. Then she went into the line to get a pork chop.

When she got back to Aranea's table, another girl was sitting with her.

She had dark brown hair, divided into two long braids. Her eyes were a strawberry-brown color. She had a shoulderless black shirt that revealed her stomach. She had jeans on, and fushcia colored shoes. Her glasses were dark pink, so was the two bracelets she wore around her wrists. Her lipstick was also fuschia.

"Meulin, I'd like for you to meet Meenah," Aranea gestured to the girl.

"Hi," Meulin said, sitting down.

"What's up?" Meenah greeted, sitting back in her chair. She had her own lunch too, grilled Hawaiian chicken kabobs, with pineapple.

As Meenah and Aranea chatted away, Meulin skimmed over the rest of the lunch room.

She spotted the kid who showed her around, Kankri. He was sitting with a girl. She seemed to be nagging him around, and he seemed to be pouting like a little kid.

The girl Meulin met in History, Damara, was sitting with some guy Meulin never met. Damara was still speaking Japanese, but it looked like the boy knew how to speak it too.

Meulin found Mituna, who was eating a honey and peanut butter sandwich. He was happily chatting with a girl. Most likely his girlfriend he was talking about during class. Kurloz was there too, eating in silence beside Mituna. Meulin figured they were friends.

One boy, who looked like someone from the 90's, was smoking outside. Meulin could see him through the window.

Another person, also male, was sitting alone in the far corner of the lunchroom.

_Why is he all alone? _Meulin wondered. He sat there alone, eating vegetables.

VvVvVvVvV

The best part of the day came. Lunch. Nepeta excitedly went to the lunchroom. She accidently forgot to eat breakfast, so she was starving.

She got some chicken nuggets. Now was the hardest part of lunch; choosing where to sit.

She saw Gamzee walk past her, and sit down next to a boy. His hair was as white as snow, and his eyes were red like cherries, obviously an albino. Another boy was seated on the opposite side of Gamzee. He was in a wheelchair.

A few tables down, two girls were chatting away. One looked like a very tropical looking girl. The other girl Nepeta had already met. Nepeta was sure her name was Aradia.

Sollux, the-lisp-kid (as Nepeta had nick-named him), was sitting on the other side of the tropical-looking girl. A kid was bothering Sollux from the other side of the table. That kid looked like a hipster mixed with a nerd.

Two girls sat together at another table. One of them was Vriska. The other was very pretty. The first thing Nepeta noticed about her was her fancy skirt.

One girl sat at the table right behind the albino kid. Her chair touched his, and she was turned around in her chair, bothering him.

But something caught Nepeta's eye. Right in the very far corner of the lunchroom, sat someone who was all alone.

Nepeta decided to sit with him. He looked so lonely.

"Hi!" Nepeta greeted, sliding into the chair next to him.

"H-Hello," he said.

His hair was jet black. It was styled a little feminine. It was short in the back, but then slanted down to his collarbones, like an A-line haircut. He wore a black t-shirt. His shorts were dark grey, and he had white knee socks, with vertical, thin grey lines. His shoes were black. Nepeta could see that his eyes were dark blue beneathe his cracked shades.

"Wouldn't you like some meat?" Nepeta asked, seeing that all he had to eat was vegetables and rice.

"No... I'm a vegetarian..."

"Oh, ok," she said, taking a bite of chicken nugget.

"Can't you eat with a fork?" he asked, seeing that she used her hands to eat.

"But chicken nuggets are a finger-food..." she pouted. "They're SUPPOSED to be grabbed with fingeeeeeers."

"If you eat with your hands, you will most likely get everything you touch afterwards dirty. I advise you to eat with a fork."

"But I don't have a fork."

"Then go get a plastic one from the lunch lady."

"Fiiiine," She whined, getting up to go get a fork. She didn't want to use a fork, but she didn't want to upset a possible friend.

She came with a fork, and stabbed it into a chicken nugget.

"Must you be so vicious?" he asked.

"Well, I used the fork, didn't I?" she pouted once more.

"But you don't have to brutally stab it."

"But I used the fork, like you told me to."

He sighed.

"By the way, what's your name? I'm Nepeta."

"My name is Equius. Nice to meet you, Nepeta."

"Nice to meet you to!" she said happily. Then she added; "Even though you made me use a fork..."

"You are supposed to use a fork."

Nepeta continued to argue with him over the use of a fork, and how chicken nuggets should be eaten. Nepeta considered him a new friend.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Meulin went to her elective, Choir.

When she got inside, she saw a few familiar faces. One was Damara, and the other was the guy who was smoking outside during lunch.

Meulin sat down in a chair. This classroom was completely different than a normal classroom. There were some chairs spreaded out in the center, which a few kids took advantage of. In the very back of the class, there was bleachers, which the kids had to stand when they sang.

Before the bell rang, Damara sat down next to Meulin.

"Wareware wa, futatabi Meulin o mitasu yō ni miemasu," she greeted.

"Uhh..."

"Anata wa mada rikai shite inai?"

"Umm..."

Damara smile turned twisted. "Sorekara watashi wa chōdo iu koto ga dekiru, watashi wa anata to issho ni shitai, to anata ga shitte irude wanaideshou ka?"

"Do you even know English?"

"Watashi wa sore o rikai suruga, watashi wa sore o hanasu koto wa dekimasen. Shikashi, watashi no kotoba wa anata ni kankei arimasu ka? Anata mo, watashi ga itte iru no ka wakaranai!"

Meulin just turned around, speechless, as Damara giggled.

Suddenly, the cigarette-smoker walked up to her.

"What you doin, kitten?" he asked. His accent was really odd.

"Uhhh..." she stumbled over her words.

"What would you say if I asked if you wanna hang out with me awhile?" he asked slyly.

"Hitobito wa chōdo anata ni ataru sayū,-sōde wa arimasendesu ka?" Damara asked her, giggling.

"Umm..." Meulin scooted backwards in her chair. She was feeling a little uncomfortable. "Could you not... be so close?" she asked, as the guy scotted closer to her.

"I'm Cronus," he said. "And I would LOVE to know your name."

"I'm Meulin... B-but... You're scaring me..."

"Alot of girls say that at first," he said. "But, you'll warm up to me," he said, walking away. He winked at her. "They all do."

"Sorera no dore mo okonawanai, shinpaishinaide kudasai," Damara assured. She made a disgusted face at Cronus. "Mo nai watashi. Soshite, watashi wa min'na to uwaki. Kare o nozoite."

"I still... don't... understand... you..."

VvVvVvVvV

Nepeta sat down in Choir class. All the chair were in a circle in the middle of the room. She had been told they all had to stand up when they sing though.

Nepeta spotted Aradia. "Hiiiii!" Nepeta called, waving.

Aradia looked up. "Oh... Hello..."

Nepeta took her seat next to Aradia. "Sorry if I'm weird..." she apologized. "I'm new to this town, and I don't really know how things work..."

"That's okay," Aradia said, smiling. "I only came to this country two weeks ago."

"Really?!"

"Yes. I used to live in Japan. I took English classes there, unlike my mother or older sister."

"So they can't speak English?"

"No, not really."

Then the bell rang, and they paid attention.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The rest of the day went by pretty fast. After Choir, Meulin had Science. She had it with the lone boy she saw at lunch, and the other guy who was apparently Damara's boyfriend.

The last class, reading, Meulin had with Damara's boyfriend, Rufioh, and Mituna's girlfriend, Latula. Meulin had taken a liking to Latula. She was rad, and really fun to talk to.

VvVvVvVvV

Nepeta's next class after Choir was Science. She had it with her new friend Equius, and Tavros, Gamzee's disabled friend. Since Tavros was a little slow in his wheelchair, Nepeta helped him by pushing the back of the chair part.

When going to reading, Nepeta raced through the hallways, pushing Tavros's chair quickly down the hallway. Not to mention, scarring Tavros for life.

Another of her classmates, was Terezi Pyrope. Nepeta got along very well with her. She found out that she and Terezi both had a secret love for roleplay. They became buddies pretty quick.

When the last bell of the day rang, Terezi and Nepeta walked arm-in-arm to their lockers, with were right next to eachother.

"I should come over to your house today," Terezi said, smiling.

"I don't know. I never asked my mom."

"Your mom needs to know?"

"Of course!" Nepeta said, giving her an odd look. "I can't just barge in the house with a person she's never met!"

"Oh," Terezi sounded disappointed, with a slight frown. "I guess I asked 'cause my mom is never around."

"Oh?"

"She's a lawyer. Always busy. It's just me and my sis most of the time," she said, a hint of sadness to her voice. But then she smiled and added; "But then we get to do whatever. Hee hee hee!" She opened her locker, revealing a bunch of colorful magnets inside. Most were red.

Terezi got out her red backpack as Nepeta finally managed to open her locker. Terezi got a plushie dragon out of her locker, and stuffed it in her backpack. It was yellow with blue button eyes. "Have you been good in there today, Lemonsnout?" she giggled. "You haven't given Pyralsprite any trouble, haaaave you?" she questioned the yellow plushie, as she pulled out another dragon toy from her locker. This one was white with red eyes.

"Was Lemonsnout good today?" Terezi asked Pyralsprite. There was a moment of silence before Terezi smiled and said, "Good!"

Nepeta watched the whole thing in interest.

"I can believe this!" a voice said from behind the two girls grumpily. "Your in 6th grade, and you're STILL playing with dolls?!"

Terezi frowned. She didn't even have to look behind herself to know who it was. "I'm sorry, Karkat," she said. "I didn't know I needed permission from you to do stuff I want to. I forgot you run my life," she said sarcastically, stuffing Pyralsprite in her backpack. "And they're not _dolls. _They're _scalemates._"

"I don't care what they are," Karkat said, crossing his arms. "They're still childish. And people are going to make fun of you for it if you don't stop playing with them."

"Well the only one who's complained about it is you," she said, turning around to face him.

"I'm just saying," he said.

"You're just being a jerk," she said, walking past him. "C'mon Nepeta, we don't need to be around this jerk," she said, leading Nepeta away. "Let's go before he starts REALLY getting on my nerve."

"Okay..."

Karkat just glared as he watched them leave.

The two girls got outside. "Let's walk to the High school," Nepeta said. "I get picked up there. Unless, of course, you have to stay her for the bus."

"Nah," Terezi said. "I have to go to the Highschool anyways. Me and my sis walk home. Or at least, to the city bus stop."

"The city bus stop? Don't you live in a neighborhood?"

"No, me and my sis live in an apartment building, in the more city part of town. I'm guessing YOU live in a neighborhood?"

"Ya, just a few blocks away from the heart of the city. 4th street."

"Ooooooh, on that cul-de-sac?" Terezi asked.

"Yep!" Nepeta beamed.

The two continued to walk to the Highschool, about a block away.

"So your mom picks you up, right?" Terezi asked, breaking the few seconds of silence.

"Yes."

"How big is her car?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Just answer the question."

"It's a van. Six seats."

Terezi smiled in response.

"Why did you wanna know?"

"Just wondering!" Terezi cooed.

Soon they got to the high school. Tons of students were walking to the buses, hanging out, or getting into cars.

VvVvVvVvV

Meulin leaned against the outside wall of the school. She was waiting for two things. One, her mom. Two, her sister.

Mituna walked up to her, holding Latula's hand.

"Sup," he greeted.

"Heeeeeey," Latula said, moving the brown hair out of her eyes.

"Oh, hi guys!" Meulin smiled.

"Waiting for your parent too?" Mituna asked.

"Ya. And my sister."

"Oooh, you have a sister?" Latula asked, curious. "So do I!"

Suddenly, a car horn sounded.

Mituna whirled around. "That's my ride, gotta go!" he said, smiling, walking to the parking lot.

"Thank you," Latula told Meulin when Mituna was out of sight.

"For what?" Meulin asked, tilting her head.

"Not being mean to Mituna," Latula said, as if Meulin already knew. "With his condition, he get's bullied alot. He's really sweet and nice, but no one gets to know him before they judge him," she said, dead serious. "I started going out with him before he got his condition. After his accident, he got hurt. Bad. Altered his way of thinking. He lost a lot of friends because of it."

Then she smiled. "Guess he never changed to me. I still love him, and still understand what he has deep down."

"Wait, he has a condition?"

"You didn't know?" Latula asked, surprised. "But ya. A few years ago, he was riding his skateboard. He hit a rock he didn't see, and crashed into a wall. He hit the soft spot on his head. He got rushed to the emergency room, then..." Latula stopped to blink away the tears. "The doctors said his brain got rattled... When his dad asked if he would make it, they said yes, but... They said... It was a 99.9 percent chance of side effects. Mituna's had autism ever since..."

"I'm so sorry," Meulin said, a sad emotion spreading on her face. She laid a hand on Latula's shoulder.

Meulin gave her a few moments to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "Thanks for understanding," Latula said, choking on her words.

Meulin hugged her. "There, there..."

A few minutes passed. The evidence of Latula crying was barely noticable behind her red shades.

Soon, Terezi and Nepeta came into sight.

"Oh, there's my sister!" Meulin said happily.

"Mine too," Latula smiled.

"Hello!" Nepeta greeted Latula.

"Well, aren't you sweet?" Latula cooed. "Hey, Terezi."

Terezi smiled. "Hee hee hee."

An olive colored van came into sight. "Well, there's my mom," Meulin said, walkng towards the car. "C'mon, Nepeta."

"Okay!"

Terezi followed. "Take me with yooooooooou!" she whined.

"Let me ask first," Nepeta said.

"Who's this...?" Ms. Leijon asked, looking at Terezi.

"My new friend!" Nepeta said, "Can she come over today?"

"Well, I guess so..." Elaine said. "She IS already in the car..." she said, looking at the girl who had already gotten in the back seat and was giggling.

"Hey Latula, tell mom I'm at Nepeta's house!" Terezi called.

"Kk, I'll tell her you spent the night over there!"

"Yay!" Terezi and Nepeta said.

"And now they're having a sleep over..." Elaine muttered, slightly confused.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

When they got to Nepeta's house, the two girls raced into her room.

Terezi jumped onto Nepeta's bed, and began to unstuff the scalemates out of her backpack.

"No shoes on the bed," Nepeta said, as she stepped out of her shoes by the door.

"Mm... okay," Terezi said, kicking her shoes off. They landed on the floor with a thump.

Nepeta sat down next to Terezi. Terezi stuffed a few scalemates into Nepeta's lap.

"These are so cute!" Nepeta cooed.

"This one is Lemonsnout," Terezi said, pointing to the yellow one. "And Pyralsprite," she pointed to the white one.

"And Pumpkinsnuffle," the girl motioned to the orange plushie, "And Inspector Berrybreath," she held up a blue one. "This one is Honeytongue," Terezi said, showing Nepeta a honey colored one. "Pucefoot," she held up a pink scalemate. "And last but not least, the light blue one is Pinesnort," she said, with that light blue scalemate in hand.

"Where did you get all of these?" Nepeta said, stroking Pumpkinsnuffle.

"I dunno, my mom gives them to me," Terezi said with a grin. She saw the one Nepeta was holding. "Ohh! I almost forgot! The name Pumpkin reminded me!"

"Hm?"

"Tomorrow is Halloween!" Terezi said, excitedly. "What are you gonna be?"

"I forgot all about it," Nepeta said, rather disappointed. "With all the moving, and unpacking... I guess I forgot..."

"So you're not going trick-or-treating?" Terezi gaped.

"I... guess not..."

The two girls were in silence for a while.

"I have tons of costumes to lend you," Terezi said. "I roleplay alot, so you can just wear one of my roleplay costumes," she said.

"Thanks!" Nepeta perked up a bit.

"We should trick-or-treat around this neighborhood," Terezi told her. "The city isn't really good for candy collecting. But _neighborhoods _are much more promising!"

"I guess so," Nepeta said, smiling and tilting her head.

"Ohohoh!" Terezi said, "And Latula is throwing a Halloween party at night!"

"Really?!" Nepeta got really excited. "But wait... Don't we trick-or-treat at night? And isn't a lot of... big kids... gonna be there?"

"Naw, we can trick-or-treat earlier than that," Terezi said. "But ya... A few older people will be there..."

"My mom says I can't go to parties like that."

"But other kids our age will be there!" Terezi pouted. "Nothing bad's gonna happen! I mean, if you don't like the older kids, we could just party in my room! Y'know, door locked, movies, scalemates, and candy!"

"Mmm... okay!"

"That's the spirit!" Terezi smiled.

"But what about my Halloween costume?" Nepeta asked.

"I told you, my roleplay costume!"

"But what if I don't fit in your outfits?"

"Kanaya."

"What?"

"Kanaya can make us a costume!" Terezi said happily, tossing a scalemate into the air.

"Who's Kanaya...?"

"Remember that girl in the long fancy skirt?"

"Yep!"

"Her! She makes all her clothing!"

"Really?" Nepeta asked, amazed.

"Yup!" Terezi smiled. "Her mom and sister know how to make clothes too!"

"So if I can't find a good costume out of your roleplay wardrobe, we'll ask Kanaya?"

"Of course!" Terezi said.

There was a few moments of silence.

"Now what?" Terezi asked, rather bored. A mischievious smile spread across her face. "Wanna... snoop?"

"Snoop for what?"

"I dunno. Anything?"

"But who's stuff would we snoop?"

Terezi smiled. "How about Meulin?"

The two girls slowly tiptoed out of the room. Meulin was in the kitchen with her mother, talking about her day in school.

The two crawled across the floor. The crawled on the left side of the couch, the side where the two older people couldn't see them.

They quickly escaped into Meulin's room.

"Now what?"

"A good investagator always looks for evidence."

"What kind of evidence?" Nepeta asked curiously.

"I dunno. Any evidence, I guess?"

Nepeta saw something on Meulin's wall. "She's already ahead of me!" she whispered viciously.

"Ahead of you on what?"

"Shippppppppping!" Nepeta said, pointing to Meulin's shipping wall.

"There's only one ship..." Terezi said blankly. "And that's my sis and her boyfriend."

It was true. Only one square paper was tacked to the wall. It had a cute little drawing of Mituna and Latula on it, with a red heart in the background.

"What are you doing in here?" a voice sounded behind them, making the two girls jump.

The two slowly turned around, facing Meulin.

"Uhh..." Nepeta couldn't seem to find an answer.

"Ruuuuun!" Terezi said a little over-dramatically. She grabbed Nepeta's hand and the two retreated back into Nepeta's room, shutting the door behind them.

"So what now?"

"I dunno. Movies?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The next day in school passed pretty slow. Mainly because Nepeta and Terezi couldn't wait to go get a Halloween costume.

Nepeta and Terezi went straight to their lockers right when the last bell rang.

"I'm so excited!" Terezi squealed.

"Me too!" Nepeta said happily, opening her locker and getting her things.

"Halloween is the best!" Terezi said, with a huge smile spread on her face, as if her face froze like that.

"You guys are going trick-or-treating?" a voice much too familiar scoffed.

"What else is Halloween for?" Terezi glared at Karkat, who's locker was a few lockers to the left of Terezi's.

"You two are such kids," he sighed.

"Well no duh," Terezi said. "We ARE kids."

"You're thirteen, grow up."

"And why can't we go trick-or-treating?" Terezi asked. "Even the highschool students go trick-or-treating!"

"I never see them do it," Karkat retorted. "Whatever, do anything you want, babies."

"You're just jealous you didn't get invited to my sister's party," Terezi said, leaving the subject.

"I didn't even know about any party," Karkat said. "I wouldn't even want to go anyways. The party's probably for a bunch of crazy highschoolers, am I right?"

"No," Terezi rolled her eyes. "There will be middleschoolers too, 'cause my sis doesn't want me to be all alone."

"I bet they just want to be at a highschooler party."

"I bet they are just my friends," Terezi said, tears forming in her eyes. "At least I have friends," she said, quickly walking away before Karkat had a comment.

Nepeta chased after her. Terezi was really fast though. No matter the distance, Nepeta could see her wiping her eyes.

Nepeta finally caught up to her outside. She swiftly grabbed Terezi by the shoulder before she could get away again.

"What happened back there?" Nepeta asked, concerned.

Terezi suddenly burst into tears. Nepeta let her cry on her shoulder.

"Karkat..." Terezi said between her sobs. "He's such a rude jerk. He ruins every day for me!"

"There, there," Nepeta comforted her, gently patting the back of Terezi's hair.

Terezi stood up straight and wiped the last of tears away. She sniffled a little.

"How about we forget about all that?" Nepeta said. "Let's just think about the candy and the party, k?"

"K..."

The two girls walked down to the highschool, were Latula would be waiting for them. Nepeta already told her mother she would be going home with Terezi today.

When they finally got to the highschool, Latula was a bit alarmed.

"Were you crying?" she asked Terezi.

"No..." she sniffled.

"Tell me the truth. I won't judge."

"..."

"Terezi..." Latula mumbled, holding her little sister in her arms. "You can tell me."

"Karkat was being a jerk."

"Well just ignore him," Latula said. "And if he's ever mean to you again, picture in your mind Mituna running him over with his skateboard."

Terezi laughed a bit.

And so the three girls went to the Pyrope apartment. The walk to the city bus was a little long, and the bus ride even longer. Nepeta was a little freaked when she saw a hobo on the bus, in the back seat. He was old and skinny, and pretty dirty too.

Terezi and Latula didn't seem freaked though. Maybe he was on the bus before?

Latula saw Nepeta's freaked expression.

"Scared of Mr. Hobo von Filthy?" Latula asked with a grin.

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Hobo von Filthy," Latula said, tilting her head towards the hobo. "It's what me and Terezi nicknamed him. "It's ok, he's pretty nice. He lives on this bus, y'know."

Nepeta had no response to that.

So now they were at the apartment. "You girls have fun getting your costumes ready," Latula said. "I has me some decorations to put up."

The girls giggled at Latula's funny accent at the end of that sentence, and then went into Terezi's room.

Nepeta browsed through Terezi's roleplay costumes. But none appealed to her.

"I guess we go to Kanaya's now," Terezi said, pulling out her cell phone. "I'll see if Kanaya can get her sister to pick us up, ok?"

Nepeta nodded.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

A girl came to pick them up. A girl Nepeta had never seen before.

"I'm Porrim," the girl introduced herself.

"Nepeta," the Leijon said.

"I've seen your sister around school," Porrim noted.

Nepeta nodded.

Then the two girls followed Porrim into the car. A female their age sat in the passenger seat.

"You must be Kanaya," Nepeta smiled.

"Oh, hello," she said quite properly. "I see you are Nepeta." She turned to Terezi. "I see you will be accompanying us today?"

"Yep!" Terezi said with a confident smile.

Kanaya gave her a simple smile, as the other two girls got settled into the back seat.

When they got to Kanaya's house, they were breath-taken. The house was small, but it was fancy like a French or Italian home.

Kanaya guided them inside. They walked past the kitchen and living room. They entered Kanaya's room.

It looked like a normal girl's home. Y'know, besides all the sewing machines and clothing material everywhere.

"So," Kanaya said, clapping her hands together. "What shall I make for you on this fine Halloween day?"

Nepeta thought for a while.

"A cat!" she said.

"A... cat..." Kanaya said, a little disappointed. But then she smiled. "Very well!"

Then she shooed them out of the room. "You cannot see my masterpiece until it is done!"

So Terezi and Nepeta sat in the living room.

"Would you like something to drink?" someone said.

The two turned around to see a tall, beautiful woman in a sleek dress, who `looked alot like an older Kanaya.

"You must be Kanaya's mom," Nepeta said, amazed.

"Please, call me Maria," she smiled. "Would you two girls like anything to eat or drink? We have tea and scones, if you'd like. Porrim just made them."

"That be great!" Terezi said.

They sat down at the dinner table, and Porrim set a plate of chocolate chip scones in front of them. The scones were still warm.

"Tea?" Porrim asked, pouring them both a glass.

"C-Can I have some milk in my tea?" Nepeta asked.

"Of course, darling," Maria said, gettinng the milk out of the fridge.

Nepeta blushed. _They're so proper... How do I act in front of fancy people? _She sat up a bit. _Am I embarrassing myself? I'm embarrassing myself, aren't I?_

She looked over to Terezi, who was happily munching on scones. Nepeta took a sip of her tea. "..."

After the girls ate, Porrim sat them down to watch TV. They watched TV for about half an hour, before Kanaya sashayed out of her room. "I'm done, darlings!"

Nepeta bounced out of her chair in excitement.

Kanaya showed her the outfit.

"Oh... my..." Nepeta said staring at the costume. Words could not describe how she felt.

A few moments of silence passed.

"You like it... right?" Kanaya asked.

"I..." Nepeta said. "Love it!" She launched forward and hugged Kanaya. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

She took the outfit out of Kanaya's hands.

The outfit was perfect. There was a black tanktop, and an olive green vest. The tutu was also black, with pretty green lace. There was a headband to the outfit, with cat ears sewn on. And, there was a green cat tail sewn to the tutu to match.

"It's soooo pretty!" Terezi complimented. "You're gonna make me look like a dork when we're trick-or-treat together."

"No way!" Nepeta said. "You'll never look dorky."

Terezi smiled. "Thanks, Nepeta."

Nepeta smiled at her, and then turned to Kanaya, "So how much is this outfit going to cost?"

"What?" Kanaya asked. "No, no, no! It's free! I don't charge unless the person is sixteen, or older."

Nepeta smiled.

VvVvVvVvV

An hour or so later, the girls went trick-or-treating.

Terezi wore a scalemates cloak, which Kanaya also made for her a few days ago. It was red with green button had to admit, it really did look good on Terezi.

It was about eight o'clock when they got back to Terezi's house. They poured the candy onto the floor in her room.

"We sure got alot," Terezi smiled, victoriously.

"What are we gonna do with all of it?" Nepeta asked. "There's too much to eat it all."

"That's why we save it," Terezi smiled. "And eat it a while later."

"Ok!" Nepeta agreed. It sounded like a good plan to her.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Latula stood in the doorway. She was wearing a skin tight body suit, which was teal and red. It was sleeveless, and a black longsleeved shirt was underneathe.

"You girls ready for the partyyyyy?" Latula grinned.

"I was born ready!" Terezi smiled. "Hee hee hee!"

"Me too!"

"Ok, c'mon, some guests are already here!"

The two middleschoolers followed her out, leaving all their precious candy in Terezi's room.

The first two guests were Kurloz and Mituna.

Mituna was in a sci-fi looking costume. It was black and yellow. He had a yellow helmet to match.

Kurloz was in a skeleton suit, purple shorts, and purple boots. He had skeleton make-up on.

"Heeeey!" Latula greeted. She and Mituna exchanged a kiss. Kurloz waved.

"Still silent as ever," Latula laughed.

"Anyways... Let the party begin!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Soon, the party came to life. Almost everyone was there.

Damara was there, in a kimono. Her little sister, Aradia, was in a female Indiana Jones costume.

Rufioh was dressed up like a motorcycle biker, and his brother Tavros was dressed up as Peter Pan.

Sollux was dressed up like Mituna was, without the helmet, and the colors were blue and red instead of black and yellow.

Kanaya came as a vampire princess, and Porrim came as a vampire queen.

Vriska showed up with Aranea. Aranea was dressed up as a spider witch, and Vriska was a pirate.

Gamzee came too (even though Kurloz had to leave for a while, to pick him up). He was dressed as a clown. He had on black pants with purple spots. He had purple suspenders, and a plain black shirt. He had on white face paint.

Nepeta had invited Eridan, since he looked alone at school earlier that day. He had blushed and accepted the offer. He was now dressed up as a prince. He had a cape, and fancy prince clothes.

Feferi walked in with Eridan. She was dressed up as a princess. Her sister, Meenah, was dressed up as a rockstar.

Someone else came into the door. It was Meulin. She was dressed up as a kitty maid.

"Nepeta!" she said, smiling.

"Meulin! I didn't know you would be here!"

"When there's a party, I'm there!" Meulin said, bouncing up and down.

Latula sashayed up to them. "Hey giiiiiiiiirl!" she said, trying to speak over the music. "Having fun?"

"Just got here," Meulin said.

"Oh. Anyways... Hope you have fuuuun!" she walked away, heading straight for Mituna.

Mituna laughed. "I wish I was wearing a police officer suit."

"Why?"

"So I could say a really cheesy pick up line I saw on the internet right now."

Latula laughed. "You're so cute!"

Meulin watched them. She wished she had someone to make her laugh like that.

She looked over her shoulder and saw Nepeta and Terezi dancing together. She smiled. Maybe... Maybe she didn't need anyone just yet. After all, she had great friends, and a good little sister.

Soon, Gamzee walked up to the girls, pushing Tavros up in his wheelchair.

"H-Hey..." Tavros said shyly. "I hope... we're not... intruding..."

"No way!" Nepeta said. "The more the merrier!"

Meanwhile, Meenah and Aranea sat together. No one noticed that there hands were touching. "Should we dance?" Meenah asked.

"I'm not that into dancing..." Aranea said shyly.

"Too bad," Meenah said. She grabbed Aranea's wrists, and dragged her onto the dance floor. They started dancing like the others. Of course, Aranea wasn't putting much effort into her dancing.

"O. M. G. Is that Aradia?" a voice called out.

"Feferi?" Aradia saw, turning around.

Feferi tackle hugged her. "I haven't seen you in forever! Since..." she gasped. "Summer!"

"Well it is good to see you too," Aradia smiled.

"Ff, I got us some drinks," Sollux Captor said, walking up to the girls, holding two cups of lemonade in his hand.

"Thanks, Sollux!" Feferi said, smiling. She took the cup from him and gulped down the lemonade.

Eridan watched from at the table. He pouted a bit.

"Are you okay?" Nepeta asked, sliding into the seat next to him.

"Meh. Been better," he said, circling his finger on the table.

"You can tell me," Nepeta said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Eridan shrugged, and looked in the opposite direction.

Nepeta realized that nothing would help, so she got up to go talk to Terezi.

The party continued. Eventually, Nepeta, Terezi, Feferi, and Aradia went ot go watch a movie in Terezi's room.

Aradia and Feferi had to leave in the middle of the party, but Nepeta stayed. She decided to spend the night at Terezi's house.

They both fell asleep towards the end of the movie. They were so sound asleep, that they didn't wake up when Latula crept in to turn off the TV.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The weekend went by fast. Nepeta had spent Saturday at Terezi's house, and Terezi was coming over to Nepeta's house on Sunday.

"Okay, girls," Ms. Leijon said. "I'm going to work. Meulin's in charge, okay?"

"Okay!" the girls saluted.

Elaine got into her car and drove down to the church.

"Good morning, Simon," Elaine said when she saw the man in his office.

"Oh, hello, Elaine," he said, smiling. "First Mass starts in half an hour."

Elaine quietly took a seat on a nearby chair. "What shall I do until then?"

"Well... I am waiting for my mother and close friend to come by. They help at mass."

"I see," she said, nodding. "Will they be arriving shortly?"

"They should be..." Simon said.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed. Then a few more silent minutes.

A jade colored Toyota Corolla drove into the parking lot. A woman with tan skin and dark brown hair stepped out of the car. Her eyes were dark green, and she had a long flowing dress to match. Her chocolate brown hair was cropped short.

She opened the doors to the building, and strolled inside.

"Hello, Simon," she cooed as she took a step inside.

"Hello, mother."

"That's your mother?" Elaine said, blushing a bit. She was breath taken by the beautiful woman.

"Well... She raised me," Simon said. "I was abandoned at a very young age, and given to an orphanage. By fated chance, that's where my mother worked. She raised me, and I grew up as part of the Maryam family."

"Aside from that," she said, turning to Elaine. "You must be the new translater for the deaf." She held out her hand. "I'm Maria."

"Elaine," Ms. Leijon said, shaking Maria's hand.

"Now we're just missing-" Simon tried to speak but the door opened, and a man walked in.

The man had blond hair that was parted in the middle. He had on a black shirt with a yellow collar, and black jeans. The oddest part about him was his eyes. One was blue, the other was brown. Not even the multiple scars on the upper part of his face were as odd as his eyes.

"-Psy," Simon finished.

"What kind of name is Psy?" Elaine blurted.

"It's a nickname, stupid," Psy shot her a look. He had a very faint lisp.

Elaine narrowed her eyes at him.

"Now, now, no fighting!" Simon said, feeling the tension between the two. "Especially on Elaine's first day at work!"

"Whatever," Psy rolled his eyes.

"I swear all of you act like teenagers," Maria sighed. "I already have enough of that at home, I don't need it at work too."

"It's your fault you had kids," Psy mumbled. "How is that even possible? How old are you?"

Maria scoffed. "I may be the oldest of us here, but you _never _ask a woman her age."

"I see you aren't too polite," Elaine glared. She already had a disliking to Psy.

"Ya, ya, whatever," he said shrugging.

Elaine glanced at Simon, who seemed a little upset.

"It least I'm not a stupid woma-"

"That is quite enough," Simon cut him off, feeling upset. He looked really angry. "Anyways, it's time to start mass," he said, walking towards the door, avoiding all of their eyes.

Maria was the first to follow him, wordlessly.

Elaine sat for what seemed like forever. Psy wouldn't look at her. He finally walked out of the room, Elaine following a few moments after.

**A/N I haven't updated in forever WTH**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

Feferi looked at herself in the mirror. She put water-proof mascara on her long, brown eyelashes. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, before tossing her cherry brown hair, feeling satisfied.

She went down the marble stairs. Everything was fancy about her house. It was three stories high. The walls were white. The chandeliers were made of diamonds and crystals. There was marble furniture such as tables and stands. The couches and pillows were made from pink velvet. There was even an indoor pool and garden.

Everything was exquisite. Of course, the richest family in the city would have the finest mansion. It was even right next to the beach!

Feferi skipped to the kitchen. Her mother, Candace, was decorating a freshly baked cake.

"Yo, Feferi!" her mother greeted. "Just putting some finishin' touches on mah cake. You like?"

Feferi nodded. The cake was fuchsia colored, with rose petals and white choclate.

"So ya friend and boyfriend are gonna be here in a lil bit, huh?" the baker asked.

"Yep, they're gonna be here in a bit!" she said. She then blushed and looked at the floor. "And he's not my boyfriend..." she mumbled, her face growing bright red.

"That's what ya think," Candace said, winking. "I know you gots a crush on him. I dun blame ya though. The Captor family is really somethin', ain't they?"

"Mom!"

"I'm just sayin'!" she defended herself. "That Psy, Mmmm-mmm-mmm! That's probably what you think of that son of his too, huh?"

"Mom!" Feferi exclaimed even louder.

Candace laughed. "I'm just teasin'. Go have fun though, k?"

"Okay, mom..." she said, backing away slowly. Backing into someone, actually.

"Hey lil sis, watch where you're goin'," Meenah said. She walked past Feferi, not hesitating to look over her shoulder, wink, and whisper to Feferi, "Dat Captor, huh?"

Feferi blushed, and shook her head. She thought for a moment. _I guess he is kinda cute...? _She thought about that for a few more moments, going into her little own world.

The girl snapped back into reality when the doorbell rang.

She went to the door, and opened it.

"Hi, guys!" Feferi said happily, a smile spreading across her face.

"Hello," Aradia greeted.

"Sup," Sollux greeted with his cute lisp.

Feferi saw Sollux's dad starting the car. Not quickly enough though.

Candace went outside to greet him. "Oh, Psy, I wasn't expecting to see ya here," she said, swooning a bit.

"F***," he cursed.

"Especially at mah own home, your sweet, ya sly devil," she cooed.

"I was just dropping of my son and his friend, and you f***in know this," he glared at her.

"Why dun ya come inside for a bit?" Candace asked. "Ya dun hafta leave right when you get here. Maybe I wanna swoon over your brown and blue eyes for a bit."

"I have to leave," he said. He quickly drove away.

Candace sighed romantically. "He's so gonna be mine someday."

Sollux's eye twitched as he watched his father be flirted on. Feferi shivered.

"Old people," Sollux said, rolling his eyes.

"Are we going to the beach now?" Aradia asked, trying to get to the point.

"Yes!" Feferi said.

The girls went into the bathroom to change. Sollux waited for them to get out.

The two came out, finally. Aradia was in a burgundy one-piece swimsuit, and Feferi was in a bright pink bikini.

Sollux went in to change after them. He came out in yellow swim trunks and a black t-shirt.

The three walked down to the beach together. Sollux squinted his green and blue eyes a bit. "Bright."

"What did you expect?" Aradia asked.

Sollux mumbled something.

"Oh come on, the beach is fun!" Feferi cheered. She grabbed his hand, and dashed towards the water, Aradia close behind.

Aradia splashed Sollux as soon as she reached the water.

"Bluh. AA, really?" he said, crossing his arms.

"You can't go to the beach if you don't get wet," Aradia chuckled. She dove into the water. Feferi followed her under.

"Girls," Sollux rolled his multicolored eyes.

A few hours later, they went to the snow cone stand not too far away. Feferi got strawberry, Aradia got cherry, and Sollux got red and blue raspberry.

It was getting dark now. The sky was turning orange-red.

"So how did you too meet anyways?" Sollux asked the two. "Aradia moved here a few weeks ago, but it seems like you two knew eachother before then."

The two looked at eachother. A smile broke out on their faces.

**A/N I wanted to make a chapter on these three. I decided I don't want the story to be about just the Leijons.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

VvV Flashback VvV

_Feferi walked out of the airport with her mother and older sister. For summer vacation, they decided to go to Japan. _

_ Although Feferi and Meenah hardly knew any Japanese at all, Candace was quite fluent in it. _

_ They went to their hotel room, and began to unpack. _

_ They would be here for a month, and Feferi was excited. _

_ Japan was so different from America. It was really cool though. The city was so big, with many tall skyscrapers. At night, the city would come to life and light up with many glowing signs. Lots of people didn't even have cars. Most took the train, rode bikes, or walked. _

_ Feferi was most excited to she the smaller part of town though. She heard about it, and wanted to go. There was a large garden there. Feferi had heard about large cherry blossom trees, many flowers, and lots of green bushes and trees. She also wanted to see the huge pond in the middle, filled with Koi fish. _

_ "Mom, can I go to the garden?" Feferi asked eagerly._

_ "Where's the garden at?"_

_ "It's right outside of town! Can I go? Can I?" Feferi was practically bouncing with joy._

_ "I guess so. But take your sister wiff ya. I dun want ya to get lost or somethin'."_

_ Feferi squealed. She and Meenah took the elevator down to the lobby. They walked outside and called a taxi over._

_ The two girls went to the garden. _

_ Feferi gasped._

_ It was so beautiful. So many beautiful colors. The trees blew softly in the breeze. There were mostly a variety of bushes and trees, and a few patches of flowers. _

_ A fairly wide creek divided the garden in half. A small wooden bridge curved across the rushing water._

_ "I gotta admit," Meenah said, looking around. "This place is pretty sweet."_

_ Feferi could only stand there, gaping in amazement._

_ She finally snapped out of it, taking off towards the bridge. Meenah followed close behind._

_ The other side of the garden was a bit denser with plants and trees. Feferi heard a sound of pounding water, and decided to follow it. _

_ She saw a magnificent waterfall, which poured into a small pond. The little pond was connected to the bigger creek by a small creek. The pond also webbed out into numerous smaller ponds, each about the size of two dinner tables. Large rocks surrounded the bodies of water. Some moss grew between the cracks in the rocks._

_ Koi fish swam in the small ponds. Lily pads drifted lazily. _

_ Feferi went closer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. She turned around, and saw a girl. She was feeding small crumbs of bread to ducks._

_ Feferi walked closer. She noticed Meenah wasn't behind her anymore. The older sister was farther behind, standing on the bridge, looking into the large main creek._

_ "Hi!" Feferi smiled. _

_ The girl was startled, as were the ducks. The ducks quickly flew away, and the girl dropped the bread._

_ Feferi wasn't sure wheter or not to approach the native, for she might be upset._

_ "_あなたはアヒルを離れて怖がって..." _she muttered._

_ "Um... I don't speak Japanese..." Feferi murmured._

_ "Oh," the girl said, blinking. "You're a tourist." She stood up and brushed off her long flowing skirt. "I'm Aradia."_

_ "Feferi," the tanner replied. She sat next to Aradia. "Sorry for scaring away the ducks."_

_ "That's okay," Aradia shrugged. "They'll be back later."_

_ Feferi was opened her mouth to say something, but then she heard a call from Meenah. _

_ "Yo, sis! Time to go, mom texted me, she says we gotta go get lunch!"_

_ "Okay!" Feferi called back, getting up. She turned back to Aradia. _

_ "Meet you here tomorrow at the same time!"_

_ "Wait, wha-" Aradia tried to say. It was too late, Feferi was already racing back to her older sibling._

_ VvVvVvV_

_ Aradia kicked a rock. Why did she come back to meet the stranger? Because the girl was interesting. _

_ "Hi!" that same familiar voice rang out. Aradia whirled around. _

_ "Hello," Aradia greeted the tourist. "I brought lunch," she said, handing Feferi a bento box. _

_ A smile broke out on Feferi's face. "Thanks!" she said, nodding, taking the food. _

_ They took a walk around the garden, Feferi eating as they strolled._

_ Soon, the sun began to set across the horizon. _

_ "I must go now," Aradia said. "My mother will be so worried."_

_ "Okay," Feferi said. Before Aradia could leave, the American spoke up. "See you tomorrow?"_

_ "... Okay," Aradia said, then dashed off._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Kurloz walked into the art room. The last class had already ended, and an art club was held after the last bell rang.

Not many students attended. It seemed as though all people cared about was the sports clubs and activities. Only three students other than Kurloz went to art club. He didn't know them, so he didn't care what they did, as long as they minded their own business.

Kurloz sat down in his usual seat, in the back corner of the room, under the broken light. He got his sketchbook out of his backpack, and tore out a page.

He went to the cupboard, and got out the acrylic paints. He got red, blue, yellow, black, and white.

The part he liked most about art club was that no one was told what they were supposed to do. They just did anything creative that they wanted to, just as long as it was appropriate and they were doing SOMETHING.

Kurloz got to work on his soon-to-be masterpiece.

VvVvVvV

Meulin strolled to the art classroom. She wanted to sign up.

She was often lonely because Nepeta was always with her new friends, and her mother was at work or too busy to chat. At least in art club, Meulin would have something to do.

She was surprised to see the room was almost empty, except for a few people.

One person caught her attention. Kurloz Makara. Didn't Aranea tell her to stay away from him? Was he some sort of trouble maker?

Meulin slowly walked closer to him. He didn't seem to notice. He was absorbed in his own little world, painting a picture of many colors.

Meulin decided it was rude to interupt him, so she turned around. Besides, she had to sign her name on the sign-in sheet.

She grabbed a green pen from her anime kitty backpack. She wrote her name on the paper. She saw Kurloz's name one slot above her's. His hand-writing was so fancy. It was like he wrote in calligraphy. It was so... pretty. A faint blush spread across her cheeks.

Meulin blinked and snapped out of it. She felt like an embarrassed dork for blushing at his hand-writing.

She went to the materials table and collected a few various colors of colored pencils.

The Leijon went to go sit down. She took a seat a few chairs away from Kurloz.

Like usual, Kurloz had his skeleton hoodie pulled down over his eyes, casting a shadow on the rest of his face.

Meulin peeked at his art. Purples and dark blues swirled around the paper. A person sat in the middle of the page, trapped in a dark room.

The painting had a dark aura to it. But still, it was a masterpiece. The colors were well thought out. The various kinds of brush strokes he used were complex. Everything was so precise, every last detail.

Meulin looked back at her own drawing. So far she only had the outline done. It was going to be a picture of herself in a masquerade dress when she was done.

She looked back to Kurloz. "H-Hi."

He looked up from his painting. The Makara looked at her and gave a faint smile.

Meulin gave out a small gasp. His eyes were a deep purple like amethysts. They were so beautiful.

"H-How did you come up with the idea for that painting?" Meulin asked, trying to make conversation.

He grabbed out his binder from his backpack. Meulin watched curiously.

He got out a piece of lined paper. In his calligraphy-like cursive handwriting, he wrote; _I don't know. It just came to me, I guess_.

A few seconds passed, then he wrote, _What are you drawing?_

"Oh, um..." Meulin blushed deeply with embarrassment. "I was... gonna draw me in a masquerade dress..."

A faint smile flickered across his lips. _Masquerade? Those are fun. _he wrote.

Meulin smiled. "You like them too? I've never actually been to one before... But I do like the outfits!" Meulin got quiet. "Sorry if I'm a dork."

_You're not a dork at all! Would it make you feel better if I drew myself in a masquerade outfit as well?_ he scrawled across the paper.

"Oh, um, you don't have to," Meulin said, blushing. _Why isn't he talking?_

_ But I wouldn't mind to._

"But, uh, if it would embarrass you... You really don't have to..."

_How about I draw you, and you draw me?_

"Oh, um... okay..." Meulin murmured, getting out her variety of pencils.

Kurloz had already gotten to work.

What was Aranea talking about? He was dark and creepy. He was nice, actually.

Before they knew it, it was 4:59, and art club was coming to an end.

_Time to go, _Kurloz wrote on the paper.

Meulin packed up her things. The Leijon was almost done with her drawing.

She followed Kurloz out the door. Before he could get to the door, she found the courage to ask him something she was unsure about before.

"Kurloz, why don't you talk?"

He froze. Meulin could see him tense up a bit. She was already beginning to regret asking.

He turned around and grabbed out a piece of paper from his backpack. He grabbed a pen and quickly wrote two words that completely shocked Meulin.

_I'm mute._


End file.
